Department for External Church Relations
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Memorial service for victims of 1996 plane crash held in Barentsburg settlement on Spitsbergen
DECR Communication Service, 22/02/2026
On 21st February 2026, in the Chapel of the Image of the Saviour Not-Made-by-Hands in Barentsburg settlement, Spitsbergen archipelago, a litiya was celebrated to commemorate the victims of the 1996 plane crash. Attending the memorial service, celebrated by Priest Pyotr Gramatik, were Mr A.A. Chemerilo, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Barentsburg, and the Russian Consulate staff; as well as Mr I.A. Neverov, Director General of Arktikugol; Mr K.N. Turinsky, Director of the Barentsburg mine; and local residents.
The chapel was built in the late 1990s to commemorate the victims of the tragedy that had occurred on Spitsbergen on 29th August 1996. On that day, a Tu-154 plane crashed during the final approach to Svalbard Airport. On board were 141 people, most of them citizens of the Russian Federation on their way to work to the Russian settlements. All of them died. It is the greatest catastrophe in the history of Spitsbergen and the deadliest plane crash in Norway.
The year 2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the tragedy. To commemorate that date, with the assistance of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Barentsburg, memorial plaques with the names of all 141 victims were made in Russia and presented to the chapel. This year, the memorial plaques have been installed inside the chapel.
Department Chairman
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